Load carriers for vehicle, and especially roof boxes for vehicles, are widely used to provide for an enhanced loading capability to vehicles. Roof boxes for vehicles are especially useful as they utilize a space of the vehicle not otherwise utilized.
Roof boxes generally have a base and a lockable lid and very often a longitudinal form to provide good volume with relatively low wind resistance. Due to the elongated form of the roof boxes, the lock arrangements are subjected to special requirements. It is desirable to lock the lid at a plurality of lock sites to effectively retain the lid to the base in a safe manner. Further roof boxes are generally manufactured in light weight material such as fiber reinforced composite based material. Although such material is strong and tough, it can be slightly flexible especially when larger pieces are used.
From a safety perspective it is very important that the roof box is properly locked before a user drives away with the vehicle. An insufficiently locked roof box can run the risk of being accidentally opened during motion. It is further a higher risk that an insufficiently locked roof box may be accidentally opened in case of an accident.
One lock system having three lock sites for a roof box is disclosed in European patent application no. EP2322382. The lock sites are interconnected via sliding bars to operate the individual lock sites to and enabling them to open and close simultaneously. Likewise The US patent application no. US20120118926A1 disclose a similar solution having a rotatable rod, generally referred to as a drive bar, which provides a rotational connection between three latch assemblies.
The above mentioned solutions have drawbacks however. The solutions may appear to have been locked properly while there still may be lock bolts, or lock pins, which are not fully engaged with the corresponding mating part, thus providing a lock arrangement which may be insufficiently locked. Further, the user gets limited information if the lock arrangement has been properly locked or not.
A good lock arrangement should not only be easy to lock, but easy to lock properly. There should be clear and reliable indications of whether the lock arrangement has been properly locked. A good lock system should further be flexible in terms of being adaptable to the specific load carrier in which it is intended to be used.